Apparatus for forming necks on pipes

ABSTRACT

An arrangement for forming cylindrical necks or throats on cylindrical shaped members, on their exterior surface. A threaded bolt-shaped member has a hook-shaped expansion head and cooperates with a pressure sleeve positioned coaxially with the bolt-shaped member. The pressure sleeve has a bearing rim and a cylindrical recessed portion corresponding in diameter to the dimension of the expansion head. The bearing rim of the pressure sleeve has, furthermore, two cutouts located diametrically opposite to each other and extending for the entire width of the rim.

United States Patent Rothenberger May 13, 1975 [54] APPARATUS FOR FORMING NECKS ON 3,050,102 8/1962 Hock 72/117 PIPES 3,538,734 11/1970 Koskinen 29/157 3,670,547 6/1972 Granger 72/123 [75] Inventor: Gunter Rothenberger, Bad

Homburg, Germany [73] Assignee: lng. Edwin Rothenberger, a/k/a Schweibtechnikund Industrie-Bedarf, Frankfurt, Germany [22] Filed: Oct. 29, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 410,872

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 26, 1973 Germany 7311408 June 13, 1973 Germany 7322019 [52] U.S. Cl. 72/117; 29/157 T [51] Int. Cl. B2ld 51/40 [58] Field of Search .1 72/117, 123; 29/157 T [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,511,836 6/1950 Cullen 29/157 Primary Examiner-Lowell A. Larson Attorney, Agent, or Firm.1oseph F. Padlon [57] ABSTRACT An arrangement for forming cylindrical necks or throats on cylindrical shaped members, on their exterior surface. A threaded bolt-shaped member has a hook-shaped expansion head and cooperates with a pressure sleeve positioned coaxially with the boltshaped member. The pressure sleeve has a bearing rim and a cylindrical recessed portion corresponding in diameter to the dimension of the expansion head. The bearing rim of the pressure sleeve has, furthermore, two cutouts located diametrically opposite to each other and extending for the entire width of the rim.

11 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR FORMING NECKS ON PIPES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an arrangement for forming necks or throats of cylindrical shape attached and integral therewith to the surface or periphery of pipes, storage vessels, for example. The apparatus has a threaded bolt-shaped member provided with a hookshaped expansion head which cooperates with a coaxially located pressure sleeve. The pressure sleeve is, in turn, provided with a bearing rim and a cylindrical recess which cooperates with the expansion head for forming the neck.

An arrangement of the preceding species is used in a manner, in which a hole is first bored into the cylindrical pipe or vessel which is to be provided with a neck. The diameter of this bored hole is made adequate to allow the passage of the expansion head. The expansion head is, for this purpose, screwed out of the pressure sleeve by an amount which allows an inclined slot or slit on the expansion head, can enter the pipe upon corresponding inclination of the expansion head. Thereafter, the apparatus is oriented radially with respect to the axis of the pipe member, and the expansion head is drawn into the pressure sleeve by turning the threaded bolt-shaped member. As a result of such turning action of the boltshaped member, plastic deformation of the material of the pipe member takes place, and a neck attachment is formed. The outer diameter of the neck-shaped attachment corresponds then to the inner diameter of a pressure sleeve. During the deformation process, the pressure sleeve bears with its reaction force against the pipe member.

In the arrangement described above, the bearing rim of the pressure sleeve is in contact with the pipe line or storage vessel, along only two contact lines. These contact lines lie in the longitudinal direction of the pipe line or storage vessel on which the neck attachments are to be formed, and these two contact lines, furthermore, lie on two opposite sides of the neck attachment to be formed. As a result of the reaction force applied to the pressure sleeve by the expansion head or threaded bolt-shaped member during the process of forming the neck attachment on the pipe, notable indentations are formed in the regions of the contact lines on the pipe. These indentations do not only provide an undesirable appearance, but they also cause deformation of the cross'sectional area of the pipe, as well as the distortion of the pipe axis. Such deformations and distortions are particularly undesirable when producing pipe-line networks or circuits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement for forming necks on pipe-shaped members without applying notable indentations or deforma tions to the pipe being worked.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of the foregoing character which is simple in design and easily operated.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement, as described, which may be economically fabricated and maintained.

The objects of the present invention are achieved by providing the bearing rim of the pressure sleeve with cutouts located diametrically to each other on the pressure sleeve and extending the entire width of the bearing rim.

With the preceding arrangement, in accordance with the present invention, the objects of the invention are not only achieved, but the pressure sleeve is also prevented from turning while the threaded bolt-shaped member is being drawn by turning of this bolt-shaped member. The bearing rim of the pressure sleeve can be on the frontal surface of the pressure sleeve which may be substantially of cylindrical shape. At the same time, it is desirable that the bearing rim has a flange-shaped portion which is expanded so that in the region where the pressure sleeve bears against the pipe, the bearing or pressure area is substantially increased. The form of the cutouts should be matched to the cross-sectional area of the pipe to be worked on. Since the neck forming arrangement, in accordance with the present invention, is to be applied to pipes of many different diameters, it is desirable that the cutouts have a prismatic cross-section. It is particularly desirable that the cutouts are in the form of widely opened Vs which are symmetrically arranged on the pressure sleeve. The opening angle of the V is, thereby, within the range of to 140, and is preferably in the neighborhood of In view of the presence of these cutouts, the pressure sleeve makes contact with the pipe not only along two contact lines, but instead contact is made along four lines in accordance with the present invention. The bearing forces are distributed thereby along a larger region or area of the pipe, so that indentations or deformations are avoided in an assured manner.

Independent of the advantages available from the cutouts of the present invention, it has been found that the flared or extended portion of the flange bearing rim causes interference in the use of the device. Thus, such interference is incurred when the expansion head is inserted in an inclined position. In order to avoid the interference, the expansion head has to be rotated out of the pressure sleeve by a large number of turns prior to the insertion process. After the expansion head has been inserted and properly oriented, the threaded portion of the bolt-shaped member attached to the expansion head must again be rotated into pressure sleeve prior to commencement of the process for forming the neck attachment. This requirement for rotating the expansion head in and out of the pressure sleeve, is repetitive and will occur regularly in the use of the device, and this produces a laborious task to be performed by the operator with the accompanying loss in time and increase in expense. It is particularly significant that the interference effect increases with increase in the diameter of the bearing rim and the pipe, or with increase diameter of the expansion head and the pressure sleeve. As a result, it is necessary to rotate the expansion head or member by a correspondingly larger amount out of the pressure sleeve.

In order to avoid the above-described effect of the expanded bearing rim which is desirable, it is provided in accordance with the present invention that the rim is cut-off in a symmetrical manner along two sides spaced apart by substantially the outer diameter of the cylindrical part of the pressure sleeve. By resorting to this procedure, the objects of the present invention are achieved, and the neck forming apparatus cannot roll off from curved or inclined surfaces. The rolling off of the apparatus is particularly dangerous when applied to construction work, since the apparatus has substantial weight. When portions of the flange are removed or cut off, furthermore, it is possible to store the apparatus, in accordance with the present invention in lighter-weight tool boxes which may also be substantially narrower thereby.

The reduction of the. flange rim of the bearing rim can be accomplished in an advantageous manner by severing or milling away segments of the bearing rim. The segments are removed so that the pressure rim is bordered by two parallel and symmetrical planar surfaces which are separated from each other by a distance corresponding substantially to the outer diameter of the cylindrical part of thepressure sleeve.

The novel features which areconsidered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in theappended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective view ofa pipe-shapedmember provided with a neck integrally formed on the pipe, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the neck-forming arrangement of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view with parts broken away, and

shows the neck-forming arrangement of FIG. 2 during use;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pressure sleeve shown in FIG. 2, when having'a reduced bearing rim I flange.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. ll, there is shown a pipe-shaped member ll having formed on the exterior cylindrical periphery, a cylindrical neck attachment 2. When not using the apparatus of the present in-vention,,indentations or depressions 3 result along the longitudinal direction of the pipe I. These depressions or indentations lie on two opposite sides of the neck 2, and are shown in FIG. I by cross-hatched portions. The cylindrical neck attachment 2 serves for the purpose of inserting or soldering on branch lines to the pipe line ll. Such branch lines have been omitted from the drawing for the purpose of simplification and clarity.

A threaded bolt-shaped member 4 is shown in FIG. 2, and is provided with a fine thread 5. This bolt-shaped member has, at one end, a hook-shaped expansion head 6. This expansion head projects from a substantially conical-shaped portion of the bolt-shaped member 4. The expansion head, furthermore, has a substantially rectangular cross section in a plane inclined to the axis of the bolt-shaped member. The width of this rectangular cross-sectional area is substantially smaller than the bore in the pipe line through which the expansion head is to be passed. The length of the rectangularshaped cross-section corresponds substantially to the diameter of the final cylindrical neck. To insert the ex-. pansion head into the starting bore of the pipe line, the expansion head has an inclined slit or slot 7.

The surfaces which are effective in the actual neck forming process, are dented by 8 and Q. These surfaces 8 and 9 are well rounded atthe transition regions or surfaces to the remaining areas of the expansionheadQ I for the purpose of allowing smooth and easy motion) 1 with respect to the material to be worked on; f

The threaded bolt-shaped member 4 is providedwith I aconical-shaped portion at the end opposite to, that having the expansion head. This conioal-shapedp or-H Q 3 tion 10 terminates in a hexagonalportion I1 to:which:.

a lever or a ranch may be applied for the purposeof I turning the expansion head.

The threaded bolt-shaped member 4 operates in co njunction with a pressure sleeve 12 which has a hollow cylindrical portion 13 provided with a flange-shaped expanded bearing rim 14. The upper part ofthe hollow.

cylindrical portion 13, shows a cylindricalinner bore 15 having a diameter and length correspondingto-the J dimensions of the cylindrical neck 2 which is to be formed (FIG. II). The lower region of the hollow cylint T drical part I3 is provided with an internal threadfllo ing angle of substantially a In FIG. 3 it may be seen that the expansionhead ti has been drawn into the wall of the pipe line 1i,,as a re- 5 1 sult of rotation of the threaded bolt-shaped member 4.

As a result, the neck attachment 2 has been formed in I a cylindrical shape of which only a small portion is visii ble in FIG. 3. The remainder of the cylindricalneck lies in the interior of the pressure sleeve 12. lnview' of the presence of the recesses 18, of which only the up per v I one is visible, the bearing riml4 pressesagainstthe pipe line I along two contact lines. As a result'of this arrangement, the pipe line I has a greater resistence tof indentations. or depressions that may be producedlby. 7

the pressure sleeve 12.

To realize the advantages of the present invention "it 1 is not essential that the recesseslfi be subsequentlycu't, or milled into the bearing rim. 14. It is also quite possi ble to apply to the bearing rim' I4 parts or elements formed in a manner that the recessed portions are efn I I fectively formed on the bearing rim.

In FIG. 4 a plane of symmetry exists which passes, through the axis of, the pressure sleeve IZandthe bot-1' tom ends of the recesses 18. Arranged parallel to gthisf plane of symmetry, are two bordering surfaces'wand, f 20 which are spaced from each other by the'distanceq L. This distance L corresponds to the outer diameter D of the cylindrical portion 13 of the pressure sleeve:

With this arrangement the bearing rim has therebya reduced width in a substantially rectangular cross section which makes it possible to move the pressure sleeve quite close to the pipe member to be worked on, when the pressure sleeve is oriented correspondingly) 1 I This arrangement, furthermore, makes it also possible to require only a relatively small amount ofrotation to move the expansion head out; of the sleeve for the pure 1 pose of inserting into the bore of the pipemernber or body which is to be worked on. The dotted lines in FIG. I

4 represent the portions removed from the bearing rim.

for the purpose of forming the surfaces 19 and 2t);

It will be understood that each of the elements file scribed above, or two or moretogether, may, alsofind auseful application in other types of pipe neck forming arrangements, differing from the described described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and de scribed as embodied in a pipe neck forming arrangement, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present inventionv I claim:

1. An arrangement for forming cylindrical-shaped attachments of the periphery of pipe-shaped members comprising, in combination, a threaded bolt member having a hook-shaped head; a sleeve member coaxial with the axis of said bolt member and having a threaded portion for receiving said bolt member, said sleeve member having a cylindrical recess for the passage thereinto of said hook-shaped head; and a bearing rim on said sleeve member and having diametrically oppositely lying recesses, each recess extending the full width of the rim, said sleeve member contacting said pipe-shaped members at four contact lines.

2. The arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said recesses of said rim have a substantially prismatic cross section.

3. The arrangement as defined in claim 2, wherein said recesses of said bearing rim are substantially V- shaped and have an angle within the range of substantially 100 to 140 between the sides of the V-shape.

4. The arrangement as defined in claim 3, wherein the angle between the sides of the V shape is substantially a 120.

5. The arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said bearing rim is substantially reduced in dimension to correspond to the outer diameter of said sleeve member along a line perpendicular to a plane of symmetry passing through said recesses of said bearing rim.

6. The arrangement as defined in claim 5, wherein said bearing rim has two parallel surfaces for reducing the dimension of said bearing rim, said parallel surfaces being parallel to said plane of symmetry.

7. The arrangement as defined in claim 6 wherein the distance between said parallel surfaces corresponds substantially to the outer diameter of said sleeve member.

8. The arrangement as defined in claim 7 wherein said parallel surfaces are flattened planar surfaces.

9. The arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said cylindrical-shaped attachments comprise neckshaped portions integrally formed with said pipeshaped members.

10. The arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said recesses on said bearing rim cooperate in forming said cylindrical-shaped attachments without producing depressions in said pipe-shaped members.

11. An arrangement for forming cylindrical-shaped attachments of the periphery of pipe-shaped members comprising, in combination, a threaded bolt member having a hook-shaped head; a sleeve member coaxial with the axis of said bolt member and having a threaded portion for receiving said bolt member, said sleeve member having a cylindrical recess for the passage thereinto of said hook-shaped head; and a bearing rim on said sleeve member and having diametrically oppositely lying recesses, each recess extending the full width of the rim, said sleeve member contacting said pipe-shaped members at four contact lines, said recesses of said rim having a substantially prismatic cross section, said recesses of said bearing rim being substantially V-shaped and having an angle within the range of substantially to between the sides of the V- shape, said bearing rim being substantially reduced in dimension to correspond to the outer diameter of said sleeve member along a line perpendicular to a plane of symmetry passing through said recesses of said bearing rim, said bearing rim having two parallel surfaces for reducing the dimension of said bearing rim, said parallel surfaces being parallel to said plane of symmetry, the distance between said parallel surfaces corresponding to substantially to the outer diameter of said sleeve member, said cylindrical-shaped attachments comprising neck-shaped portions integrally formed with said pipe-shaped members, said recesses on said bearing rim cooperating in forming said cylindrical-shaped attachments without producing depressions in said pipeshaped members, said parallel surfaces comprising flattened planar surfaces. 

1. An arrangement for forming cylindrical-shaped attachments of the periphery of pipe-shaped members comprising, in combination, a threaded bolt member having a hook-shaped head; a sleeve member coaxial with the axis of said bolt member and having a threaded portion for receiving said bolt member, said sleeve member having a cylindrical recess for the passage thereinto of said hookshaped head; and a bearing rim on said sleeve member and having diametrically oppositely lying recesses, each recess extending the full width of the rim, said sleeve member contacting said pipe-shaped members at four contact lines.
 2. The arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said recesses of said rim have a substantially prismatic cross section.
 3. The arrangement as defined in claim 2, wherein said recesses of said bearing rim are substantiallY V-shaped and have an angle within the range of substantially 100* to 140* between the sides of the V-shape.
 4. The arrangement as defined in claim 3, wherein the angle between the sides of the V shape is substantially a 120*.
 5. The arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said bearing rim is substantially reduced in dimension to correspond to the outer diameter of said sleeve member along a line perpendicular to a plane of symmetry passing through said recesses of said bearing rim.
 6. The arrangement as defined in claim 5, wherein said bearing rim has two parallel surfaces for reducing the dimension of said bearing rim, said parallel surfaces being parallel to said plane of symmetry.
 7. The arrangement as defined in claim 6 wherein the distance between said parallel surfaces corresponds substantially to the outer diameter of said sleeve member.
 8. The arrangement as defined in claim 7 wherein said parallel surfaces are flattened planar surfaces.
 9. The arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said cylindrical-shaped attachments comprise neck-shaped portions integrally formed with said pipe-shaped members.
 10. The arrangement as defined in claim 1 wherein said recesses on said bearing rim cooperate in forming said cylindrical-shaped attachments without producing depressions in said pipe-shaped members.
 11. An arrangement for forming cylindrical-shaped attachments of the periphery of pipe-shaped members comprising, in combination, a threaded bolt member having a hook-shaped head; a sleeve member coaxial with the axis of said bolt member and having a threaded portion for receiving said bolt member, said sleeve member having a cylindrical recess for the passage thereinto of said hook-shaped head; and a bearing rim on said sleeve member and having diametrically oppositely lying recesses, each recess extending the full width of the rim, said sleeve member contacting said pipe-shaped members at four contact lines, said recesses of said rim having a substantially prismatic cross section, said recesses of said bearing rim being substantially V-shaped and having an angle within the range of substantially 100* to 140* between the sides of the V-shape, said bearing rim being substantially reduced in dimension to correspond to the outer diameter of said sleeve member along a line perpendicular to a plane of symmetry passing through said recesses of said bearing rim, said bearing rim having two parallel surfaces for reducing the dimension of said bearing rim, said parallel surfaces being parallel to said plane of symmetry, the distance between said parallel surfaces corresponding to substantially to the outer diameter of said sleeve member, said cylindrical-shaped attachments comprising neck-shaped portions integrally formed with said pipe-shaped members, said recesses on said bearing rim cooperating in forming said cylindrical-shaped attachments without producing depressions in said pipe-shaped members, said parallel surfaces comprising flattened planar surfaces. 